For years, gaming machines (e.g., of the type typically found in casinos, on riverboats, and/or in other gambling establishments) have provided patrons or players with enjoyment and proprietors with revenue. Broadly speaking, they have evolved from simple, classic slot machines featuring mechanical arms that a player would pull, to more complicated video-based versions of slots, poker, and other games, with one or more buttons sometimes replacing the functions served by the mechanical arm. Further changes have included, for example, incorporating multiple displays to support advertising and/or sometimes even additional games.
As the desire for more engaging entertainment has increased yet further, some providers began configuring their gaming machines for use in a networked environment. This arrangement, in turn, has enabled some game providers to offer “random rewards” for players using gaming machines. Generally speaking, such random rewards enable players who initiate a wager to become eligible to win one or more randomly selected monetary percentages as a function of a random number of an entire fixed or progressive prize pool, with or without regard to game outcome. Techniques associated with providing random rewards are disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,626,758, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference.
Current random rewards programs utilize a fixed number of credits drawn from the same credit meter as the existing base game. That is, if the player bets X credits, Y credits (which may or may not be a number of credits configurable by the proprietor of the gaming establishment) of those X credits generally will always be dedicated to the random rewards prize pool. Y typically is equal to 1, although sometimes another number of credits may be dedicated to the random rewards program (typically with Y≦X−1). For example, in a typical random rewards scenario, if the player wagers 3 credits, 2 credits are dedicated to the base game and the remaining credits are dedicated to the random rewards prize pool. When a player selects the “MAX BET” feature of a game, depending on the implementation, all X credits are provided to the base game with no credits being provided to the random rewards prize pool, or Y credits are distributed to the random rewards prize pool as normal.
Although random rewards prize generation has represented an advancement in the gaming arts, further enhancements are still possible. For example, players may feel a sense of excitement when they or those around them win a random reward. However, they do not experience the related, precursor excitement of participating in—or really “playing”—the random rewards program. This is caused in part because there typically is no indication as to when a random reward will come, what form the random reward will come in, and sometimes whether the random reward exists at all. Similarly, players may have no sense that they are entering into a random rewards pool or that they are participating in “game” separate than that provided to the gaming machine itself, at least until—or sometimes even when—a prize is rewarded.
Players have, and may perceive, a reduced amount of control as to how their credits are allocated. That is, players can only provide credits to the base game via the fixed, standard gaming interface. They therefore have no control over whether and to what extent they wish to participate in a random rewards program or multiple random rewards programs, other than the trivial control of sitting at a machine marketed as being eligible for random rewards.
Similarly, particularly with progressive-based games, player participation is tied to individual player performance and/or habits (e.g., amounts wagered, time spent in casinos, etc.), typically as tracked via a player card that interacts with a player tracking system. Known player tracking systems provide multiple levels (e.g., four levels) of progressive-based game participation. However, the level of participation is determined for the player on behalf of the player based on predefined characteristics of the player—thus, the level of participation is not customizable by, or necessarily even known to, the player.
There are also revenue-related drawbacks for proprietors. For example, the revenue (and often the prize pool) for random rewards programs for proprietors is based on a fixed percentage of the credits “bet.” That is, revenue for the random rewards program is based on the Y credits of the total bet dedicated to the random rewards program and the “bet” does not exceed the X credits specified by the gaming machine. Thus, proprietors cannot realize incremental additional credits from random rewards programs, which would be separate from revenue dedicated to the base game. Accordingly, although proprietors are not losing money, per se, current arrangements foreclose the chance to earn additional credits from people that might be willing to contribute to random rewards jackpots independent of base games. Oftentimes, this is a limitation of using the base game itself as the payment collector with no way of using it in more advanced ways.
Similarly, random rewards programs generally are provided only to gaming machine players using suitably equipped gaming machines because that is where the infrastructure for accepting payment and providing the rather limited user interfaces exists. Thus, random rewards programs are not provided to, for example, other gaming machines, table games, roulette tables, etc. Although existing gaming machines allow players to play one or more games (e.g., a gaming machine may enable a player to play “Jacks or Better,” “Deuces Wild,” etc.), they can do so only one at a time and/or using the funds of a single credit meter.
Thus, it will be appreciated that there is a need in the art for overcoming one or more of these and/or other disadvantages, and/or for providing improvements to existing random rewards programs.
In certain exemplary embodiments, a gaming device for use in a networked gaming environment is provided. The networked gaming environment includes a jackpot controller configured to calculate and disburse payouts for a base game playable by the gaming device, and a random rewards jackpot controller configured to calculate and disburse payouts for at least one predefined random rewards scenario available to the gaming device. On the gaming device, at least one display is configured to display a base game provided to the gaming device. A payment acceptor is configured to receive a form of payment from a player in exchange for credits usable on the gaming device. A random rewards machine controller is configured to enable the player to allocate credits between a base game credit meter and a random rewards credit meter. The base game credit meter represents credits usable in connection with the base game, and the random rewards credit meter represents credits usable in connection with at least one random rewards pool corresponding to one said random rewards scenario. The at least one random rewards scenario is independent of the base game. A number of credits contributable to the base game from the base game credit meter is independent of a number of credits contributable to the at least one random rewards scenario from the random rewards credit meter. Payouts for the at least one random rewards scenario are disbursable independent of payouts for the base game.
In certain exemplary embodiments, a method of playing a gaming device connected in a networked gaming environment is provided. A base game playable by the gaming device is provided, with the base game being configured to award credits to the gaming device in dependence on a signal received from a jackpot controller connected in the networked gaming environment. At least one random rewards scenario that is enterable by the gaming device is provided, with the at least one random rewards scenario being configured to award credits to the gaming device in dependence on a signal received from a random rewards jackpot controller connected in the networked gaming environment. The base game is displayed on a display of the gaming device. A form of payment is received from a payment acceptor in exchange for credits usable on the gaming device. Credits are allocated between a base game credit meter and a random rewards credit meter in dependence on input received from a player of the gaming device, with the base game credit meter representing credits usable in connection with the base game and with the random rewards credit meter representing credits to be contributed to at least one random rewards pool corresponding to one said random rewards scenario. The at least one random rewards scenario is independent of the base game. A number of credits contributable to the base game from the base game credit meter is independent of a number of credits contributable to the at least one random rewards scenario from the random rewards credit meter. Payouts for the at least one random rewards scenario are disbursable independent of payouts for the base game.
In certain exemplary embodiments, a networked gaming environment is provided. The networked gaming environment includes a plurality of gaming devices comprising gaming machines and/or table games. A jackpot controller is configured to calculate and disburse payouts for a base game playable by at least some of the gaming devices. A random rewards jackpot controller is configured to calculate and disburse payouts for at least one predefined random rewards scenario available to at least some of the gaming devices. Payouts for the at least one random rewards scenario are disbursable independent of payouts for the base game. Each said gaming device comprises at least one display configured to display a base game provided to the gaming device; a payment acceptor configured to receive a form of payment from a player in exchange for credits usable on the gaming device; and a random rewards machine controller configured to enable the player of the gaming device to allocate credits between a base game credit meter and a random rewards credit meter, with the base game credit meter representing credits usable in connection with the base game and with the random rewards credit meter representing credits usable in connection with at least one random rewards pool corresponding to one said random rewards scenario. The at least one random rewards scenario is independent of the base game. A number of credits contributable to the respective base game from the base game credit meter is independent of a number of credits contributable to the at least one random rewards scenario from the random rewards credit meter.
In certain exemplary embodiments, a method of managing a plurality of credit meters provided to a gaming device is provided. A first credit meter is provided, with said first credit meter being configured to provide credits to a base game playable via the gaming device. At least one secondary service accessible via the gaming device is defined. At least one second credit meter is provided, with each said second credit meter being associated with one said secondary service such that a secondary service is fundable with credits only from its respective second credit meter. Credits are distributed among the plurality of credit meters based on patron input to the gaming device.
These exemplary features, aspects, and advantages may be combined in various combinations and ways to achieve yet further embodiments.